Tuesday, June 3, 2014

My Purpose on My Mission

Hi hi!!! 

It was a good week!  It was a week of eating with members.  Which is great of course!  But there is no such thing as a skinny-re-entry program when serving in a ward like this.  I'm not complaning though--I just told Sister *** that we have to exercise more in the mornings!!!  Haha we have been getting up at 6:15 and going to the track behind our house, which is nice because we can go at different paces.  On Thursday, we hiked the mountain (big hill) that is right behind our house too which was sweet!!  It was a little foggy from the rain the night before so I felt like I was in the jungle!!  There's nothing like the greenness of it in Utah!! 

Monday, we went to a drama-filming set on the beach with the Masan sisters which was sweet!!  Then we took food from the Relief Society to a less active and a recent convert.  I really love this city because there is the downtown area, which is HUGE, but there is also like neighborhoods so you don't feel like you are in a huge city.  Like our house--we live right up next to a mountain! 

Tuesday, we did exchanges with the Miryang sisters.  I stayed here which was fun.  We were in the same district for 3 transfers when I was in Andong, and now again.  I really love her!!  We went to our service project, visited a less active, and then we had to get something from a member, and he bought us dinner! 

Wednesday was district meeting, which was good as usual.  Afterwards, we had a area meeting with the Elders and talked about our ideas for this area and what we can do to continue to improve it and to help the members.  Then we had English Class which was fun as usual. 

Thursday, we had lunch with a member and her daughter.  Her daughter is 4 and so cute!  She kept giving me princess stickers, and wanted to hold my hand everywhere we went.  Then she wouldn't eat her food, so we had to have a race to see who could eat it all first, and she won (of course) haha.  The member's husband (he's a member too) works for the UN in Baghdad and is there for 4 weeks, home for 10 days, and then that schedule repeats.  We shared the scripture Alma 26:37 with her about how God is mindful people in every land, and how we can feel him watching over us no matter where we are! 

Friday, we had MCM with our mission leader, who, like I told you last week, has SO many ideas for our area, so we talked with him about that.  It is fun to see his excitement.  I called *** and talked to them for a little bit which was really fun.  They were really happy to talk to me and were on their way to meet with the sisters and the senior couple, who serves in Daegu,in Andong.  They said they are doing well, and are going to probably go to the English branch in either Seoul or Daegu from now on, but the Andong sisters will keep teaching them.  Then Friday night, we had dinner with a member's family.  The sister is the relief society president and so great!  She met the missionaries on the street when she was in high school, and then served a mission in Seoul, which was fun to hear about. 

Saturday, we had lunch with another member's family, which was great.  Their daughter who  wants to learn English really well, and when I asked why, she said because it's attractive haha.  So cute!  Then we had English class again that night, and I taught the kids class, and acted out the whole story of Goldielocks and the 3 Bears for them.  I felt like Dad when he used to tell us bedtime stories, except I'm not that creative, and just go for the classics!! 

Sunday was church which was great of course.  It is so neat to hear the members testimonies and the love they have for the Lord and this gospel.  Then we visited a less active member, who's sister is a member in Daegu, and the sister called us an asked us to visit her.  When we went, she wasn't home, but after waiting for a minute and as we were about to leave, she came up to her door as she was coming home, and said "Oh, the missionaries" Haha.  She said she doesn't have any interest right now, but we told her we were going to visit later with one of the members that remembers her, and she said that was alright.  Still a miracle that she came home right as we were there though~  Then we had dinner at a member's house.  The parents, and then their daughter and her husband and daughter all live in our ward.  The daughter's husband served in Busan mission and served in Andong and Daeshin, as well as here, so it was fun to talk with him about that and the people there! 

I have been thinking a lot lately about what my purpose is on my mission.  The first think I think about of course, is our missionary purpose to invite others to Come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through Faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End.  We say this every morning.  (I won't type it out in Korean for you haha) Of course this is the most important thing, and really outlines our goal as a missionary.  This is the same for all missionaries though.  I wanted to focus on what my individual role is.  As I think about my mission, I didn't put a lot of thought into my decision to serve.  I just knew that I needed to, and so I acted on that knowledge.  When I came on my mission, I had lots of knowledge about the gospel, and I had a testimony that I needed to do what was right, but it wasn't something deep in my heart.  I feel like I kind of just went through the motions.  This really bugged me when I first got here, so I studied lots about Christ and His gospel, but most importantly tried to put these things in practice.  I could talk about the gospel as much as I wanted, but I needed to make it a part of myself.  As I think about this, I think of Enos.  Enos's father Jacob and uncle Nephi and grandfather Lehi were all great prophets.  He had so many examples and such a rich heritage to learn the gospel from.  He knew lots about Christ and His gospel, but Enos's soul "hungered" and he really wanted a personal testimony, not just a knowledge of the Savior, so first he repented of his sins, then as he continued to pray, his faith began to be unshaken in the Lord.  I would say that this story is similar to my mission.  I have learned about Jesus Christ and His gospel my whole life, and always just accepted it to be true.  But as I said earlier, I wanted Christ to be deep in my heart, and that couldn't come from just knowing about Him, but was really applying His teachings in my life and dedicating myself to living after the example He set.  So first, I had to repent of things that would keep me from this--which is obviously a process and something I am still working on.  But as I strive to do that, that is where I can see parts of me that I can improve, and set a goal to work on it.  As I have done this, I know that my faith-which is truly faith in Jesus Christ- is becoming unshaken .  I have developed a personal relationship with Him, and have received a little glimpse of understanding of the sacrifice He made for me.  I know that this is something I will need to work on for my entire life, and a goal that I have to dedicate myself to now.  I have come too far to go back, and KNOW that my testimony will never fall back.  It will only get stronger from here, and the love of the Savior and His place in my heart can only expand as I finish my mission, and then return home and continue this pattern throughout my life. 

I love you all so much and am so grateful for your amazing examples to me! 

I LOVE YOU!

Em


Monday, May 19, 2014

Transfer Calls - off to Changwon

Hi hi from...not Andong.....Not Busan....Not Ulsan...but my new area a city called Changwon!!!  My new companion is named Sister *** and she is SO CUTE!  She studied at BYU-Hawaii for 3 years so speaks really good English, but I told her we have to speak mostly Korean haha

I am SSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOO excited about it.  It was SUPER SUPER hard to leave Andong and all the wonderful people there (more on that later) but I am excited for a new area where I know I can grow to new levels due to the wonderful Atonement of Christ!!!

So last week was good! 

Monday we Skyped of course.  Then English Class that night!

Tuesday we jundoed for English Class, then our members daughter who was visiting with her 3 kids from America were leaving on Wednesday so we went and visited them and then went to  the oldest daughter's Korean guitar-type-thing class to see her which was super fun.  She  loved me (even called me from the airport before they got on the plane back to California) so we decided we will be pen-pals haha

Wednesday was district meeting, then we had to come back and deep clean our house before transfers.  Super exciting!

Thursday, we had lunch with the Indonesian woman that used to come to our English class every week but can't anymore, so that was really fun to see her again.  Then we weekly planned, went and visited one of our members who has her mission call to Seoul then had a chicken party with our Young Single Adults before transfer calls.  Guess what I ate.  Wait for it.  Wait for it.  CHICKEN FEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Yes you did not read that wrong.  The actual taste was kind of a bbq taste, but SUPER SUPER SPICY so wasn't too bad, but you had to like eat the toes of the chicken and chew them all up to and you basically just suck the skin off the bone, so I wasn't too big of a fan.  I'll send pics of me eating them that are pretty funny.  Then we got transfer calls and I am in Changwon follow up training sister ***!!  Sister ***  (who I was in a 3-some with last August in Shinjeong) is going to follow up train Sister ***! 

Friday, we went and visited *** for the last time.  We were talking about Moroni 7, which they had read the week before together, and *** had a question about how we can judge good from evil without really judging people.  This was a really hard question and I wasn't sure exactly how to answer it (and don't think I totally did) but talked about the Plan of Salvation and how Christ will judge us all and how we just need to differentiate between good and evil so that we can make it back to live with God someday.  I kept trying to get her to explain it in Korean so that Sister *** could help teach, but she just kept going back to English which was really quite funny now that I think about it now, but was a little stressful at the time!  At the end I bore my testimony about how she can truly know for herself by prayer and reading the scriptures.  I am counting on her baptism before my mission ends!!!  *** is doing great and has already read half Jesus the Christ and the gospel principles book, and is continually studying the standard works each day.  They went to church in an English branch in Seoul on Sunday so it was the last time I saw them which was really sad. 


Then I had to pack all my stuff to send.  I sent two big boxes home by boat this week, so wait for those in a few months haha. 

Saturday, Sister *** and I celebrated our last lunch together by eating Sushi (haha my new favorite food) and then went and had English class. Then we had a Young Women's activity that the members planned making cake, which one of our investigators came to which was good!  (there is one YW and then the girl that has her mission call who came)  Then we went and had dinner with two of the members who got baptized last summer (an older couple who I love so much).  They were really sweet and gave me a present of a traditional Andong mask! 

Sunday was the last day at church which was really good. Haha on the way to church this lady who I had talked to on the road a while ago recognized me on the bus and started talking to me first. She said she doesn't have a specific religion, but her kids go to a different church.  I got her number and told the sisters to teach her!!!   We had 42 people again yesterday which was awesome!!!!  One of the less active sisters brought her 2 sons which was great!!!  It was really hard to say goodbye to everyone who I have such good relationships with there.  The investigators, members, and just other people there have taught me so much and I have learned so much from them, especially about love.  I said in my talk in sacrament meeting that when I first got called to Andong, I was talking with Sister Gilbert and she said "Andong is Love."  It is so true!  There is such a special spirit of love and service between all the people there. 

Today was Transfer Meeting which was good. My trainer Sister *** goes home today so it was sad to say bye to her!! She wants us to go visit Gangnam (yes like the song.  That's where she's from) when you come! 

I am so excited for the new adventures that Changwon will bring!!!  Yesterday at church, they had 79 people, and the elders or sisters have had a baptism for the past 3 weeks!!!!  The building is beautiful too--I will send you a pic! I don't know much about it yet but I am so excited to learn! 

I am so excited for this chance to serve here, and to push myself even further to keep Christ at the center of my heart so I can be more obedient, more grateful, and show  more love to the people I serve.  I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!

P.S.  I loved what you said about having the power to bind Satan.  In the Book of Mormon it says that Satan will have no power in the last day (Ether 8:26) because of the righteousness of the people.  Not because he will be bound by some high mighty force, but because we will love Heavenly Father and Christ so much that thoughts of disobedience will have not place in our hearts, and Satan will have NO POWER!!!  What a day to look forward to! 

I LOVE YOU ALL!

Sister Emily Maridell Burgoyne

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Success in Andong Continues

Hello my dear family!!  It was SO GREAT talking with you this morning!!  I love you all and it was so fun to see you move and talk!  It made me realize how great it is going to be when we will all be back together in the fall.  (Not in a trunky way, because I have also realized that everything at home seems pretty close to the same haha) 

Anyway. Because Mom kept asking what happened this week-

Tuesday was our big activity that we have been planning forever!!  The YM and their friends, and the elders played basketball, and we had other games with water balloons and such with our investigators and their kids which was SUPER fun!!!!!!  About 20 missionaries came up from Daegu and they helped a lot, and it was great to see them.  At night we had a talent show that turned out great as well.  It was super hilarious.  I will attempt sending a video, but I don't know if it will load or not!!  I have a bajillion pictures (ok maybe only like 300) from the day and will send some of my favorites. Including the Young Men wearing my harmony pants. 

Wednesday, we had district meeting. Great as always.  Our district leader, Elder ***, talked about how Heavenly Father sees us not as an acorn, but the oak tree that we can become.  I like the analogy and thinking of the potential we have.  We just do what we can to follow the commandments, be obedient, serve others, etc, and when we look back, we can truly see what and who we have become.  So neat!! 

Thursday, we had to go renew my foreigner card because I have been here for almost a year (yeah I know. I can't believe it either!)  and then went and visited one of our members.  I have probably talked a lot about her because I love her. She and her husband were baptized last summer, and she has so much faith and trust in the Lord.  I love talking with her. 

Friday, we went and visited ***, which is always a highlight.  We decided we would talk with them about a few of the commandments before fast sunday this week (because we had the dedication last week) and it was really neat.  We taught about Tithing, and he already had a testimony of it and shared how it helped him when he was  attending a different church.  Then I asked him what he remembered learning about Fasting and Fast Offerings from the lessons, and he basically recited exactly what it says in PMG.  Then we taught about studying the scriptures and he said, "so if we study for a little bit separately, then share what we learn and study some more together, is that what we're supposed to do?  Haha yep that's basically it! They are studying the gospel principles book together along with the scriptures, and he is half way through Jesus the Christ.  Awesome!  We gave them a whole list of scriptures to study about what we taught so I can't wait to ask about it this week!!!!!

After we got back, we jundoed in the downtown part of Andong with the elders and only had about an hour.  We had a sticker board we made and on the top says "What is your question of the soul"and there were 4 questions- does God exist?  How can He help my family?  Does He know me?  And one other I can't remember (oops) that they could put a sticker on, then we had a survey where they could fill out about what they put, and write their number and a friend's who would be interested. In 1 hour, we gave out 40 copies of the Book of Mormon and received 53 contacts!!!  We have only had time to call about 20 so far, and 2 already said they wanted to meet again!!!  That has to be some sort of record. 

Saturday, we had lunch with the youth/young single adults to celebrate our activity being over and all the work we did for it, and then visited one of the harmonys that we visit every so often who is 92 years old and has cancer.  She has gone to another church in Andong forever, but she said she would come to our church this week and so

(drumroll please.  this is where it gets good)

SUNDAY!!  I love Sundays. We always see miracles. Especially on fast sundays.  There were 41 people at church, and there wasn't even any special event going on!!!!  Also we went and picked up our harmony and she came (get excited for the picture).  Also *** fasted with ***!!!!!  Ah I was so happy!!!!  And there were 4 less actives at church!!!  It was obviously a great day!!!

And then this morning, I talked with all of you!!!

So that's my week!!!  I love serving.  I have thought a lot about missionary work this week, and studied about basically what missionary work is.  I found a quote by President Monson saying "The missionary opportunity of a lifetime is yours.  The blessings of eternity await you.  Yours is the privilege to be not spectators but participants on the stage of Priesthood service." How true that is.  We are not here to be spectators of the world around us, but to make a difference, especially in our lives, and the lives of those around us.  We have been called, and now we must follow through with that calling!!!  I know that this mission has and will continue to forever change me, which I am eternally grateful for.  One last quote from President Monson: "Dedicated missionary service returns a dividend of eternal joy which extends throughout mortality and into eternity." I encourage you to think about this too and how you in each of your lives can feel of this eternal joy.  What a blessing it is!!!

I love you all so much!!!  I hope you have a week full of miracles!!

Em

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

New Building Dedication

Hi hi!!

Sounds like you had a great week!!!

Sorry this is going to be quick today because we are in Gumi for P-Day and all of the missionaries have to use the computers here because it is a holiday and everywhere else is closed.  Anyway!

YES!  The dedication for the building was yesterday at it was AMAZING!!!!!!!!  Guess how many people we had there.  70!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish I could write that in bold letters with star stickers all around it just like I did in my journal last night!!!!  Just imagine it!  It was a great meeting!!  When we started planning this meeting in December or January, we set the goal for the meeting as 70 people, and thought it was maybe a little crazy, but felt good about it.  So we continued to plan, and despite the fact that things continued to go slow, we kept working and inviting people, so then yesterday at the meeting people kept coming and coming and coming!!!!!  Lots of people from the stake visited, which helped our numbers but still it was fabulous!!!  I taught primary again, but it was in English and Korean because there were kids from America as well as Korean kids, so I would say a sentence or ask a question in English, then have to say the same thing in Korean and write everything in both languages on the board.  It turned out pretty good though, and I had lots of fun doing it!!  President and Sister Gilbert came which was so fun to see them, and to introduce lots of our members (especially ***who came to church for the first time yesterday!!!!!!!!) to them.  I translated for Sister Gilbert during sacrament meeting, which was good, but kind of exhausting!  Haha  I hope I did an okay job.  There were also less actives there that we had heard about before, but never seen, as well as a former investigator that we have been trying to contact for a really really long time!!!  I was too busy to take pictures during the meeting, but Sister Gilbert has some that she said she would email to me, so I will get those to you when I get them!!! 

The rest of the week really just lead up to that. There was nothing too super exciting, just lots of planning for that, as well as the big activity we have tomorrow that I am still holding my breath that everything comes through, but should be great! 

This morning, we came to Gumi for P-Day and hiked up to a waterfall that was SO BEAUTIFUL!!!  I will send some pictures--it was SO MUCH FUN!!! 

Anyway,  I will send pics in a minute but I love you all SO MUCH!!!! I am SO EXCITED to talk to you next week!!

The church is true and i love being a missionary!!!

Em

Rice Farming in Korea

Hello!!

Sounds like it has been a great week back at home!  


The church move was yesterday and it was SO GREAT!!!  The church is SO beautiful.  I will send pictures in a bit.  It looks like the inside of a real church building.  The dedication is next week and the stake presidency will come up, as well as President and Sister Gilbert, so we are working really hard to invite everyone we can-members, less actives, investigators, etc. and want to work on getting the members to all invite friends as well.  I know that it will be great!!

This week was good! Last monday, we went to Hahoe Maul, the traditional Korean village that Andong is famous for which was fun.  The have the traditional mask dance/festival thing there so there was a mask museum with masks from all over the world which was super cool!!

 Tuesday, we went and visited *** and his wife.  We went to Pungi where they live and they showed us their 학원-English Academy.  We were talking about how we were going to visit our Harmony later that day (which is really confusing to get there on busses and stuff) but they said that they would just drive us there because the road from their house to her's is only like 20 minutes!!  "Are you sure?"  we said! " Yeah we'll get lunch on the way!  It's just our way to help out God's plan and to help his servants" was his response!  I've never heard a recent convert say anything like that!! I love him and his wife SO much.  They have lots of questions about the gospel, and are both so excited to learn.  He showed us the pictures of his baptism in Tahiti and one of the sister missionaries there was a girl that went to Olympus a year older than me!! 


Then we went to visit our Harmony and she was talking all about how the elders visited her, and how she made them food, but they couldn't eat it all so they took it home, and then she made us the same food.  Haha here's the thing.  The elders never went and visited her...and she talked about it the majority of the time we were there hahaha we were laughing pretty hard.  Her dementia is getting progressively worse, but she LOVES coming to church.  It is so cute!  Yesterday, she brought the BIGGEST bag of bean sprout things that I have ever even  imagined of seeing.  Seriously it was bigger than she is.  We ate some with lunch after church, and then each of the members took a grocery-bag size home with them.  It was hilarious, but she was so excited about it!!!

Wednesday was district meeting, and then we did exchanges and I stayed in Gumi with Sister ***, and Sister *** came back to Andong with Sister ***.  We went and visited one of their harmony members who made us dinner and then taught their kids english class which was super fun!

Thursday, we switched back, and then on the way home visited one of our eternal investigators.  Her sister is a member, and she has met with the missionaries off and on for like 10 years, but doesn't have any desire to join the church.  She just likes the people.  We'll continue keeping a relationship with her, but I don't know exactly how to help her!

Friday, I got to cross RICE FARMING IN KOREA off of my bucket list!!! We went and helped one of our less actives and it was SWEET!  Ok it's a lot less glamorous than it sounds.  It was just planting day and there was a machine that you put a tray in, then it put the dirt, water, seeds, dirt in and Sister Choi and my job was to continually put these trays on a big cart for like 6 hours.  We laughed the entire time.  It was pretty fun!  Haha

Saturday, we went and met with a girl that was on our contact list from last October before I got here.  We have called and texted her every so often since then, but her parents didn't really want us to meet us, not because they are against religion, because they are fine with that, but they want her to spend her time studying.  So when we were talking with her last week, she said "Oh if you have time let's meet" and we said of course we did so we went met her.  Her parents said it was okay because she said she would practice English with me, which she did.  She wants to be a chef and is going to a high school for cooking.  She showed us some pics of her food and it looked so good!  She liked what we talked about the gospel, but we don't know if we can continually meet with her because of her study schedule.  We will defs try though!!  Then we took the train to Yeoungju where the elders were playing basketball with a member and his friends, and then our investigator and her family were there watching, so we went and talked with them and all had dinner together.  it was really good!

Then yesterday was the first day in the new church which I already told you about!!!

So it has been a great, fun week here!! I have loved being able to think about everything that is happening and the miracles that we are seeing!!  I am so grateful to be a missionary at this time.  I know that my personal testimony has really become firm as I have been able to share it with others!  My knowledge and love of the scriptures has especially grown. Sister ***
and I were talking this morning about how we have learned, and are still learning of course, really how to study the scriptures and apply it to our lives, and the lives of those we teach!!  I love it!!

I love you so much!!!!  I hope that you have a great week!

Em



Monday, April 21, 2014

A Great Week!

Hello hello!!!
It has been a great week!! Not quite as exciting as last week, but still a good week none the less!
Tuesday we had zone meeting which was good. We did lots of practice teaching, which is sometimes awkward, but fun haha. I love teaching with Sister Choi so that is good!
Wednesday, we went and had lunch with *** and his wife *** .  He had lots of questions about stuff he had been reading in the Doctrine and Covenants, so I answered those the best I could... Haha He said he hadn't read much more in the Book of Mormon, and had been focusing on other stuff, but I told him how the Book of Mormon has to come first. He has to read it, pray about it, and gain a testimony of it, and everything else will fall into place after that. Everything we really need is right in the Book of Mormon. It really is so great!! We taught his wife more as well. She had read through 1 Nephi 12, which we were pretty excited about! We were talking about baptism, and she said, "Wait. Who decides who gets baptized and who doesn't" You do!!! We invited her to baptism and she said that she will think about it. She wants to be really sure, just like we want her to as well. We want her to do it for herself, and not just to follow her husband. She is doing what she needs too-studying, praying, and has real intent, and so she WILL get her answer.
Thursday, we had interviews, which was great. It was our last interviews with President since he will go home at the end of next transfer! While President interviews everyone, Sister Gilbert always teaches, which is always so awesome! For the last few transfers, we have been focusing on the "questions of the soul" and how they can be answered through the Book of Mormon and so we each took a turn to teach about the one we chose. I talked about knowing that what we are doing is really the Lord's will for us, and related it to Words of Mormon 1:7, my latest favorite scripture, and how Mormon did not know exactly why he was abridging the record, but knew it was a commandment from God, and so he followed! I love hearing from the other missionaries in my district as well, and their great examples.

Friday, we went and visited a lady who was baptized last summer with her husband.  They are probably about 60 and investigated the church for 5 or 6 years before getting baptized.  She studies the Book of Mormon SO much, and has such a strong testimony, but still has a hard time really feeling like part of the church.  It was good to talk with her.

Saturday, we had dinner with the sisters who had a baptismal  date a few months ago.  They  are both SO busy with school, so can't meet often, which is really sad.  They want to learn, but maybe the timing is just not right now.  We will keep a good relationship with them and pray for the best in the future.

Sunday, was Easter!!!  I is barely even recognized here, but I told Sister *** we needed to celebrate!  We went to Daiso (it's like a fancy dollar store) the other day and I told her that we had $10 to make an Easter Basket for each other.  It turned out really fun!!   I hid her's and so she had to find it.  It was great! Then we went to church.  It was the last day in our current building so we packed everything up after church and so they can move everything Tuesday!!  We are SO EXCITED!! We went and saw the new building the other day and it looks like a real church building inside.  I will send pics next week:)  One of the members daughters, who lives in California, is visiting for a month with her 3 kids who are 8, 6 and 3, so I got to teach primary to them in English yesterday, which was fun.  I didn't know they were going to be there, but luckily had my Liahona in my bag that had an Easter activity in it so we talked about Christ's birth, drew a pic of it, talked about His miracles, drew a pic of it, and then his resurrection, and drew a pic of that.  Then sang some songs.  It turned out pretty fun!!  She served at Temple Square, and when her husband (who is American) was going to school, they lived in Holladay, so that was super fun to talk to her.  She was really excited about it!

I have been studying the Book of Mormon really in depth--writing down my thoughts, looking up subtitles and other references, etc.  over the last 9 months, and I am finally to the end of 2 Nephi!  I was thinking a lot about Nephi this morning, and all that we can learn from him.  When we first read Nephi's words, he is humble and obedient,  and has a testimony, but relies a lot on his father's testimony.  As we read through 1 and 2 Nephi, however, we can see how Nephi's testimony, submission to the Lord's will, and pure faith in Jesus Christ, grows, develops, and is strengthened.  In the beginning, we read of Nephi's obedience- his "Go and Do what the Lord commands" attitude, and desire to learn as he prays to understand the tree of life.  At the end of 2 Nephi, as we read Nephi's last words, we can see how his testimony is COMPLETELY centered on Christ, as well as the Christlike love and charity he has for his people and for us--who he knew he was writing for.  I hope that as I look back on my life one day, I can say the same about myself.  I know that as I look at the last 14ish months of my mission, I can see how my testimony has turned from being something inside of me, to now constantly desiring to share it with others. Now it is completely centered on Christ and truly knowing what He has done and can do for me.  I love that we can read the Book of Mormon and learn from the prophets in it.  There are so many things that we can use in our lives today!!!

I am so grateful for you and your example.  I say that every week, but I know that it is true!!

We are headed off to Hahoe Maoul (the traditional Korean village which is the reason Andong is famous).  I have wanted to go since December, so finally planned it!  (I'm getting really good at planning P-Days haha.)   Get excited for pics next week!

I love you!!!

Em

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

A Miracle Week!

HELLO!!!!!!!!! 

So I'm just going to start off with our huge miracle of the week because I have been so excited to tell you all about it!!!

We were at the church on Tuesday working on some boards for our little visitors center when the church moves and we had planned to go do something else, but felt like it was more important to stay at the church and finish what we were doing.  A little bit later the phone rang and they asked if they could speak in English so I got on the phone and said "Hello?"  It was a man who told me that he lived in Pungi Up (Town) which is part of Young-Ju, the city above Andong which is part of our area, and that he was baptized last week in Tahiti on vacation and would be attending our branch, so wondered where he could have his records sent, and if he could bring his wife ,who is Korean, to meet the members.  WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!  So we keep talking.  He is French, but lived in Australia for a long time and learned English.  He has been in Korea for 15 years teaching English in the little town of Pungi and been married to his wife for 10.  We talked for a bit longer, and he said if we were ever in Pungi or Young-ju to give him a call and he and his wife would love to meet us.  Well we didn't have any plans for Wednesday yet so I said, "Well, we have time for lunch tomorrow.  Does that work for you?"  He said that was great and that he would meet us at the train station.  He said he would probably be the only foreigner there so would be easy to recognize.  I said I would be the other and that we would meet tomorrow!   (Obviously we are totally freaking out about this as I am frantically trying to explain everything to Sister ***  in Korean and call the elders to tell them about it.)  So we go to Young-ju for lunch and we get to the train station and this man looks EXACTLY like John Locke from Lost.  Seriously.  I was laughing so hard inside.  Australian accent, scruffy beard, bald head and probably like 50.  His wife  is about the same age, and is really pretty.  So we sit down for lunch (enjoyed some nice Goorl Gook-Bab, which is basically Oyster and rice soup.  It was actually pretty good) and I ask him about how in the world he found the church in Tahiti.  He told me that he has been a part of basically every religion you can think of searching for the truth. He was raised Christian, but in his adult years, he has traveled to India to learn about Hinduism.  He almost became a Buddhist monk.  A few years ago, he went to Australia to study Christian Science, and after that gave up and decided he would never find the truth.  His wife just followed him through all of these.  They have studied the Bible together every morning for a really long time.  Anyway so he went to Tahiti because he and his wife want to move there.  He said at the airport, he met a member of the church, but didn't think much of it.  He had seen missionaries in Australia (not in Korea) and had always thought they were kind of weird.  But on Sunday, next to the place he was staying was one of our churches and he felt that since it was Sunday, in order to be a good Christian, he should go to church.  He went and said that the moment he heard the man who was speaking's testimony, he felt something different and genuine about it, and immediately knew this was the true church.  So he talked to this brother for a while, and then went to FHE the next night at the church.  The next day (Tuesday) he had an interview with the mission president, who said that he should just get baptized while he was in Tahiti.  So he received all the lessons (in French which is his native language), and got baptized on Saturday, AKA General Conference Saturday.  Then he got confirmed on Sunday (Or as he said Received the Holy Spirit), came back to Korea on Monday, called us on Tuesday and we had lunch with him and his wife on Wednesday.  WHAT?!?!?!  Seriously.  I still can't believe it.  He has been listening to conference every morning with his wife, as of Wednesday, had read through 2 Nephi, read parts of the Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price, and is going to start  Jesus the Christ.  We talked to his wife about religion and she was raised Catholic and then after high school, never really attended church.  She has always heard that our church is a cult, so was a little worried when her husband came back from Tahiti saying he was baptized into this church, but wants to learn all about it. He has explained lots to her, but he learned it all in French, and they are talking about it in English, which they are both REALLY good at, but it is neither of their natural language. And I have a firm testimony that people need to hear the gospel in their native language.   She has read online a lot, which obviously not everything online is good, so had lots of questions, especially about what we think when people say we are a cult, and how we overcome that, so we were able to testify about that.  We taught her the first lesson, and she was really touched by Joseph Smith and his story.  We gave her a Korean Book of Mormon so that she could study along with her husband and she was so excited.  We told her she can pray to know for herself as well, and not just follow  her husband again, and taught her how to pray in the name of Christ.  She said that is the way she has always prayed anyway.  We also gave her the pamphlets, and he turned to the back and said "Look!  There's homework you can do too.  Read these scriptures and write the answers!"  Haha it was perfect. We usually have a hard enough time getting people to even read the pamphlets, let alone look at the questions in the back.  I am so excited for her to learn about the church and really know for herself.  So there's our big miracle of the week.  This morning, the mission started a new thing that we will be doing every week-a mission wide conference call to share all our miracles.  We were the first ones to share, and we were so excited about it.  It was so fun!!! 

Haha our other funny story of the week.  We were teaching the two little girls we are doing Family English with.  We were talking about baptism and showed them a picture of Christ getting baptized.  *** randomly asked us if we have a boyfriend.  No we both said.  Then she thinks for a minute and says, 남자 친구 사귈때, 예수 그리스도와 같은 사람 만날거에요? "When you get a boyriend, will he be a Christlike person?" Hahahahahahahahahaha we were laughing SO hard.  Good investigator.  Good investigator. 

I also LOVED LOVED LOVED conference.  Of course!!!  I especially LOVED the focus on LOVE!!!  I have studied a lot about it, and have really tried to work on having more Christlike love for others, and HOW I can have true charity for people.  So I was so excited to hear HOW exactly from the mouth of the prophets.  I made a list of questions and every single one was answered.  I also loved the focus on always being worthy and prepared to feel the spirit, and help others feel the same.  I haven't had a chance to look over many of my notes yet, but I will share some highlights with you in the future I'm sure!   I also liked Elder Ballard's suggestion to talk about Preach My Gospel in our letters.  I didn't prepared today, but get excited for my PMG insight of the week from now on!!!  We watched it with the branch at the church.  They all watched it in Korean, but Elder *** and I had headphones listening to the sound in English.  So I had once ear listening to English, and one to Korean. Later for more language study, I really want to listen to it all in Korean.  I feel like I will learn lots of different things!!! 

I think that is all my really exciting news of the week so we will just leave it at that! 


Monday, March 24, 2014

Baptism

HELLO!!

It has been a crazy week!!!  Fun, stressful, exciting, etc. and lots of prayer has gone into it.  To give you the first news...

OUR 81 YEAR OLD INVESTIGATOR GOT BAPTIZED YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!!  Hahaha I still can't believe that it actually happened.  But it did.  We have been teaching her since January or so, and she didn't really understand a lot of what we taught her but believed what she did understand.  In order for the branch to be able to help her more, and of course so she could feel the spirit and be happier in her life, the branch president really wanted her to get baptized.  We weren't really sure if she could or not because she can't understand everything, but after talking to President Gilbert about it, he said that if she believed what she did understand and would continue to attend church, she could get baptized.  So we invited her to baptism last week (I think I mentioned that it my email last week) and she got baptized yesterday at Stake Conference in Daegu.  So we spent a few days this week going to visit her (I will send a picture of her little house in the middle of nowhere) which was always fun.  She tells everyone that I eat very well (only because Sister *** has to talk and teach because Sister *** can't understand my Korean pronunciation very well so I eat faster than she does haha)  Friday, we went with the elders (our district leader, they were on exchanges) so that they could interview her for baptism.  We took some rice cakes and strawberries with us so that she didn't make us food again haha.  Then Sunday was the baptism!!  Satan was working really hard on us.  Like REALLY hard.   First of all, we got to the church and the elders said that Brother ***, who would be giving Sister *** a ride, called saying that she didn't want to get in the car (which we were worried about because she told us like 20 times that riding in the car is very hard for her) but we called her house and she didn't answer so we kept praying and took that as a good sign.  All during stake conference, we kept looking back to see if she was there because oh yeah- we found out that she was in the car along with Sister ***, the member who refered her to us, but the tire of Brother ***'s truck burst on the highway, so they had to figure out how to fix it.  Still not sure what really happened, but they made it before the intermediate stand up hymn at stake conference, because we saw them during the hymn and ran back and gave her a big hug.  I could feel the big smile on my face and knew it was an answer to prayers.  The after Stake Conference,  we started helping her get in her baptism clothes and all that good stuff, and she kept saying, "No, not today.  Next time.  Next time I'll be baptized."  So we had to explain over and over that she already made it to  Daegu in the uncomfortable car and she knows why she is getting baptized--because she loves Jesus Christ.  It was seriously like convincing a 5 year old who had already  made up their mind about something.  So we were pretty convinced the baptism was not going to happen.  One of the Elder's investigators was getting baptized too, so we told her that she could watch him get baptized and then  decide.  I honestly can't remember a crazier more stressful moment in my life.  We were trying to just love her and explain it to her calmly but loudly since she can't hear well (even  though Sister *** was very firm with her) but I couldn't understand everything that she said.  (Apparently she swore pretty loudly while the Branch President started the service......hahaha) It is a good thing that Sister *** is an angel and did a fabulous job.  So she saw the other person (the branch president's daughter's boyfriend-that's a good story for later) get baptized and decided that she was ok with it.  I didn't even see the baptism because I was outside the door to the font praying haha.  But, she wanted to be baptized and did it, and was SO happy afterwards.  She still has lots to learn, but we are SO happy for her!!!!!!

I guess that's the most exciting part of my week!  Stake Conference was great.   On Saturday it was all about missionary work, and Sunday was focused a lot on the Book of Mormon, which are our two focuses right now, so we were excited for the whole stake to hear it.  There was translation, but I listened to it all in Korean.  My notes are all in Korean actually because I couldn't think fast enough to listen in Korean, translate in my head and write in English, so I will have to sit down and translate them all later.  I was pretty excited about it though.

We met with a few other investigators and did a few other things of course, but that is basically my week.  It was so neat to see this woman, who has had so many trials and hard things in her life, soften her heart and enter the waters of baptism.  As we have met with her over the last few months, I have seen a physical change in her countenance.  She smiles (especially when the elders come with us) and shows so much love to us, even if it is in kind of a different way haha.  I love this gospel and the change it brings to people's lives.  That is the purpose of the gospel--the guidelines, the HOW to become like Christ so that we can progress daily  through our small acts.  I love being a missionary and getting to share this love and joy with others!!!  I am grateful for our family and that the gospel is such a big part of each of our lives!  


Em

Monday, March 17, 2014

Jundoing...47 Contacts in 1.5 hours

It has been a great week.  I think every week goes faster and faster.  This week definitely flew by.  It was SUPER fun though!!!  And stressful, but like I have said before, we all know I work better under a little stress.

Monday, was P-Day.  Had lunch with the elders and then wandered around Shinae (aka downtown part of the city) and shopped a little bit.  Sister *** loves shopping even more than I do so we had a little bit of fun haha.  I counted yesterday and I have acquired 13 striped shirts in Korea...............

Tuesday, the infamous Andong Farming season began!!!  A few of our members and less actives are farmers, so the missionaries get to help them  every so often.  So one of our members has a field where they grow corn.  But in the spring, before they plant the corn, there is black plastic covering on the ground that it grows up between.  So we got to spend 4.5 hours ripping the black plastic stuff from last year out of the ground.  It was tough work.  We were all talking and laughing the first hour or two, but were all silent the last little bit haha.  It was fun though.  Then we went and had dinner with the member.  I was super hungry so ate it all, even though it kind of had a funny taste.  Yeah.  Found out later that it was loach soup....  Sounds dericious!  Then we went with the member to visit our harmony investigator.  The branch president and members have really been pushing for her to get baptized so that the church can help her out some more because she doesn't have anybody to take care of her, but she can't understand everything we teach because she can't hear well and has dimentia.  But I talked to President about it and he said if she believes what she does understand and will continue coming to church, she can get baptized.  SO...she will be getting baptized (fingers crossed) this Sunday at Stake Conference!!!  We are very excited about it, but a little nervous as well just making sure everything goes through ok.  And the whole stake will be there.  One of the elder's investigators is getting baptized too so that will be great!

Wednesday, we had district meeting.  One of my favorite fun-parts of district meeting is the short Korean lesson.  This week, one of the other sisters, Sister *** taught it and she taught us some hilarious Korean phrases.  I have been practicing them all week  with Sister *** and so that I can use them at just the right time:)  Sister *** also gave the talk and I was so proud.  Haha it is like watching your child give a primary talk or something.  It was on how to be a more diligent missionary, and so we talked all about it the days leading up and I got to share with her everything I have learned about how obedience and diligence work hand in hand.  She did a great job, and testified of everything I had taught her.  It was fun.  Then we came back and worked on a new jundo board we are making to talk with people about their "questions of the soul".  We also had American dinner and made some of the Mac and Cheese you sent me and had some sprite haha.  Pic to come

Thursday, we went and visited our harmony again.  She called us the night before and told us not to come, but we have learned that is just her way of saying that she really wants us to.  We got to her house and she was totally waiting for us.  We taught her all about the plan of salvation, very simply, and I think some of it soaked in which is good.

Friday, we weekly planned and then had dinner with one of the sisters.  We talked to her more about baptism, and she said that she is worried because she really wants 믿음 (can't remember the English word........oh belief) and that she feelds like she doesn't really have any.  We talked about her desire to learn is where it has to start.  We will try to meet with her again this week.  Friday was also White Day.  So in Korea, on Valentines day, the girl gives chocolate to  the boy, and on white day, the boy gives candy to the girl.  Super complicated.  Haha so Sister *** and I treated ourselves:)

Saturday, we had english class which was fun as always.  Then we went to Youngju and had dinner with  one of our members.  We have not been able to see her for a couple weeks because we have both been really busy.  We talked about the Liahona and how in order for the liahona to work, Lehi and his family needed both faith and diligence.  Then we said how the gospel is the same.  We need faith, or the desire to learn, but also have to  act upon our desire and be diligent and following through.  Then we talked about the end of the verse which talks about small things leading to big things.  Somehow we got on  the subject of blessings and the little blessings in our lives leading to big blessings.  I asked her what little blessings she sees in her daily life and she said that none of her blessings are little, but they are all big!  Then we challenged her to pray with her family and will follow up on that this week!

Sunday, we had church which was good as always.  Nothing too exciting.  Then we went and jundoed with the Elders for English Class and Sister *** and I got (drumroll.........) 47 contacts in about an hour and a half!!!!  That is DEFINITELY a record of some sort.   The elders got some too, so between us we are praying that some of the people will come to English and then  we will be able to begin teaching them!!!

So that's my week!

Oh!  I have been continually studying last October's general conference and was reading Elder Christofferson's talk about the role of women and wanted to  share this quote with you that I read...
"Sisters, of all your associations, it is your relationship with God, your Heavenly Father, who is the source of your mortal power, that you must always put first in your life.  Remember that Jesus's power came through His single minded devotion to the will of the Father.  He never varied from that which please his Father.  Strive to be that kind of disciple of the Father  and the Son,, and your influence will never fade."
I loved it!!!  As I hae really tried to focus on what the Lord's will is for me, it has been amazing how everything I have studied has related back to it.  I also loved pondering about how Jesus's POWER came though his SINGLE-MINDED devotion to the Father's WILL!!  I know that as a missionary, I can receive even more POWER to be able to share the gospel of Christ as I try to become more like him, and this is just another way to help me do so!!  I feel so blessed that I am learning all of this.  Thank you for your great example of it too!!!  I love reading your letters and emails and hearing your sweet testimony and love for the Savior!!!


Em
 

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

A New Companion

Hello!!!!

Sounds like it has been a fun week and that everyone is doing great.   That always is good to hear!

This week was good!!!

Tuesday i was in Shinjeong (my training area) with Sister *** because we were both training.  Normally you spend time in both areas getting them ready but, Andong is too far away so we just stayed in Shinjeong.  We spent the morning getting the house and area books all ready, which was nice and fun for me to go through and pick out old investigators for her to contact again.  Then we went and visited a less active that I used to visit when I was there.  She still hasn't come to church, but I can see progress in her desire to learn!!  Then we went to English class, which was fun.  Some of the same people were there.  Remember me telling you about Eric, the man who loves the sister missionaries?  This is what he said to me the other night.  "Burgoyne.  You are a lot more beautiful than when you were here with [Sister] ***."  ...........................................................Thanks Eric.

Wednesday morning,  Sister *** and I started off the day by ordering McDonalds breakfast and getting it delivered to our house.  It has been a dream of mine for a while, but there is no McDonalds in Andong so can't do it here.  I have a video that you can watch in a few months.  It was pretty funny and delicious of course.  I got a sausage egg McMuffin.  Then, we went back to Busan and jundoed all together with the new trainees.  There were 3 Korean sisters, 1 American sister, 5 Korean elders and 1 American elder.  We went to a big shopping area and switched off every 20 minutes or so who we were with, for 4 rounds.  Then we went and had a delicious dinner at a restaurant nearby and then  KrispeeKream (probably spelled wrong but you know what I mean) donuts and we went and slept at the Sujeong sisters house.

Thursday morning we went back to the mission home and had Costco muffins for breakfast and then President announced who our trainees are.  Mine is 최유진s  and she is SO cute!!!  She is the youngest sister in our  mission and just turned 19 in December!  We have already had so much fun together.  She really wants to work hard and learn a lot, so that helps me a lot too!  She doesn't speak very much English and I think is a little afraid to try, so it is all Korean all the time! It is pushing me to learn more, but I have been surprised by how well we can communicate!!  I know that is all the spirit helping me speak Korean though!!!  We spent Thursday morning doing more training and then made it back to Andong at dinner time, visited a member, then the day was over!

Friday, we had district meeting which was good as always.  Nothing too special.  Then we taught the two sisters with a baptism date.  We had a little setback with school starting again, they can't meet every Friday night like we have for the last few transfers, but they still want to learn so our plan is to continue meeting with them on the weekends.  They have such a desire to learn and know that it is true, now it is just them seeing how important it is to make time for the gospel, even with their busy schedules.  I know that through our faith, everything will work out!

Saturday, we had English class and then a youth activity.  Then we went to the branch president's house for dinner so he could meet the new missionaries.  Yes, Elder *** also left so there is a new elder.  He is really nice and works really hard, so I know that it will be another good transfer!

Sunday was good.  Church was good as always.  We only had one investigator there this week, the grandma we are teaching.  She is funny.  Then we went and slept in Daegu last night because we had zone P-Day this morning and had breakfast and played a bunch of games which was really fun.  I had a bunch of pictures, but I left my camera on the bus.  Don't worry though.  They have it and we will go and get it after email.  I will see if Sister *** has any pictures I can send!

Sorry. I feel like this email is kind of scatterbrained!!!  I feel a little scatterbrained lately too haha.  Training is a little stressful, but really fun.  But don't worry I'm still happy happy happy!!!  I LOVE MISSIONARY WORK!!!

Em

Transfers

Well I am emailing late today because today was transfers!!!  Sister Sung is leaving Andong and is going to Daegu, which is a big city in the middle of the new mission, and I will be training a new missionary!!!!  I am sad that Sister Sung is leaving, because we had a great two transfers together.  We worked really hard and had so much fun in the process.  Of course, I am so excited to get to train a new missionary though!!!  I will find out on Thursday morning who I will be training.  There are 3 Koreans and 1 American coming so we will see!!!  I will update you on that one next week!!!

This week was not that exciting.  Haha Sister *** was sick the first few days (don't worry. I took more Vitamin C than I knew was possible (it helps that it is peach flavored) so my immune system is nice and strong.) and so we took the first couple days of the week to make a new member book, make some things for less actives, and over all make sure everything in our area was nice and up to date.  (Which is a real blessing now because it is all ready for me to take over and train.)


On Wednesday, we had a great district meeting, which was in Andong this week.  Afterwards, we ate Andong Chimdark (a famous dish in Andong that has chicken, potatoes, cabbage, clear noodles, and sauce.  It's pretty good!)  and then went and jundoed all together!  It was really fun because Sister *** and I got there a few minutes after everyone else, and as we walked into the place where they were jundoing, we saw a bunch of people walking around carrying around copies of the Book of Mormon!!  That's not something you see every day!!!  Between the 10 of us, in about 45 minutes, we gave away 30 copies of the Book of Mormon and got 25 contacts!!! I am excited to get to follow up more with them and pray that we see some miracles from it!

Thursday, we tried to go visit the nearly-deaf harmony again, but because of miscommunication between us and the old member that was going to pick us up, it ended up as a big adventure and the harmony was not very happy.  We prayed with her, and made an extra effort to invite the spirit as we talked with her.  She came to church on Sunday though and was happy again, so we are grateful that everything is back to normal.  Now the only trick is figuring out how to teach her so that she can understand.  She wants to get baptized, because she likes coming to church, but first needs to understand that God is our Heavenly Father and who Jesus Christ is.  It will be an adventure, and there will be lots of prayers in her behalf!  Then that night was transfer calls!!!!

Friday, we had to pack all of my comp's stuff and ship it to Daegu.  We jundoed a bit and then taught the two sisters who have a baptismal date.  It was an AWESOME lesson!!!  We talked about enduring to the end, and how we can do so through obedience, prayer, scripture study, etc.  We talked about the iron rod and how it is always there leading to the tree of life.  Things around it may change, but the path is always there.  We always know what we need to do to make our way back to Heavenly Father.  Sister *** and I both shared personal experiences about it, and they had some really good questions for us.  I think it was hard for them to say goodbye to my comp, but the work goes on!!
Saturday, we had English Class and then went to Youngju to visit *** and her family.  We had dinner with them, and then played a few games.  I taught her daughter how to make a cootie catcher which was pretty funny.  Our trick with them now is that they see the gospel is good, and will listen to our message, but can't really see how it applies in their life, because they are really happy.  It may take time, but as we move forward with faith and keep teaching what the Lord teaches us to, we will be able to really help them progress.

Sunday, we had church of course!  We had four investigators there--the harmony, *** and *** , and one of the less active young women's friends.  One of the members taught Young Womens and did an awesome job.  She explained the whole outline of the church--how the different classes and quorms work, why we need three hours of church on Sunday, etc-- and also shared how she met the missionaries originally through English class too, and how she later found out the church was true.  She got baptized almost 15 years ago now, and her daughter just submitted her papers to go on a mission!!!  Then we had to go to Daegu where we slept over so we could get to Busan this morning for transfer meeting!
The last picture of the "Dream Team" in Andong.

Transfer meeting was great this morning.  President and Sister Gilbert both talked about how we can really APPLY the Book of Mormon more in the lives of our investigators.  How there is always a doctrine and a principle, which we find in any story in the Book of Mormon, which are unchanging, and those lead to the application, which is the thing that changes.  Again this transfer, we are really focusing on the Book of Mormon really getting our investigators reading it and applying it to their lives!!!  I am really excited about it!!

I love you all so much and am so grateful for you and your great example to me!!!   I love you!!!

Monday, February 17, 2014

Andong is the Promised Land

Happy Sabbath Evening to you all!!!!

It has been a great week!!!!  After we compiled our Key Indicators (stats) last night, I realized that this week was I think the highest for my whole mission, lesson wise!!!  We had 3 member present lessons and 5 other lessons.  5 progressing investigators and 2 with a baptism date!!!  (more on that in a bit)  I know those probably seem low compared to some other areas in the world, but we thought that it was an absolute miracle!!!  Like I have said before, Andong really is the Promised Land!!!

Monday, we went to a Confucius village (pictures to come) for P-Day which was fun, neat, interesting, etc.  We also went to the Burger King that just opened here, but it was not very delicious.  I told Sister *** that I will save my burgers for when I go back to America.  Then we had English Class which was fun as always!

Tuesday, we went and visited one of our old harmonys (grandmothers).  We try to teach her about the gospel, but she usually just ends up telling us stories about her life, which are SUPER interesting!  (I can't understand everything she says, but Sister *** catches me up on the rest)  Then we went and taught *** and ***.  We gave them stickers to put in their Book of Mormon stories book every time they pray and they each prayed 11 times last week!   So cute.  We asked them again how it was, and they said  that they get a warm feeling each time they pray!  They wanted to come to church this week, but our member couldn't bring them so we will pray and have faith for next week!  They have been texting us (yes they both have smart phones....what is this world?)  "we miss you"  "we want to see you!"  "we love you!"  Haha so cute!!

Wednesday, we went and visited the partially deaf harmony that one of our members referred us to, and I have sent stories about.  This week, she had just gotten back from the 떡집 (rice cake shop) and had PLENTY that she was so excited to share with us.  She also had a WHOLE stock of bananas for us, but fortunately we were sneaky and had a black grocery bag in my bag that we would take a bite of something and then when she wasn't looking, throw it in the grocery bag.  Then we just got rid of it later.  Hahaha we thought we were pretty clever!  Then she decided to feed us ramen, but we couldn't get out of that one, so we ate it.  No wonder I am getting fat here!!!  All those crazy harmonys!  Anyway.  We tried to teach her about the plan of salvation and she kind of listened, well as much as she could.  The whole time she was worried that we were going to miss the bus back, which was an hour and a half later, so finally we just went and waited at the bus stop with her.  Always a great adventure!  That night, we went and got bread from a famous place here in Andong with one of the Young Women, Unsue, and ***. We had fun and taught them about prayer, which was good.  We are hoping that we can start the lessons with *** soon!  

Thursday, we had district meeting.  I taught about the new flip-chart type things we got this week.  It has pictures about each section of the lesson on on side, and then a part for us to write things on the other.  (Daejeon mission made them).  Funny story--I had practiced one part that I wanted to say about helping our investigators to visualize what we are teaching about more for a couple days before. The words and grammar forms were really tricky.  So I said it, and I was pretty excited about it.  But then Sister *** and Elder *** started laughing at me!  I just kept going, but then I asked Sister *** why later and she said because after I said it, I got a big smile on my face like I was really proud of myself, nodded and went on.  (Yeah that was totally subconscious because I did not think I did that!)  I told her about how you used to tell me that when I was little, after I did something good , I would make a face, and wait for everyone to recognize it haha.  I told her it was probably the same look.  Obviously my companion knows me very well!!!

Friday, we walked to the downtown part of Andong and back (it only took like 40 minutes-we found a more direct route)  and jundoed as we walked.  Then we had a lesson with our investigators *** and *** .  (The sisters that are 20 and 18.)  We finished the third lesson with them and talked about Baptism, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End.  Then we challenged them to baptism on April 13 and they accepted!!!  (Andong does not have a baptismal font, and in the summer, they baptize people in the river but its too cold for that still, so April 13 is the day of general conference in Daegu).  We explained how they do not need to understand everything yet, but that they still have time to learn, as long as they will keep praying and reading the Book of Mormon, their testimony will continue to grow!   We are SUPER excited!!!

Saturday, we had English Class.  Then, that night, our investigator  invited us to her house for dinner to meet her family!!!!!!!!!  We rode the train to Young-ju where they live, and they picked us up at the train station.  She and her husband are both super nice, and they have two kids, a boy who is 11, and a girl, who is 8.  It was fun to get to know them!!  As we talked, we explained some of how our religion is different from other religions.  We decided that they are not actively searching for religion right now, but are open and want to learn about it.  It may take some time, but we DEFINITELY know that they have so much potential!!!  She texted us afterwards and told us how much her family loved having us over and that we will have to do it again soon!

Sunday, was church, which was good as always but nothing super special!  Then we went and had dinner at one of our members houses with *** and *** so they could get to know each other better, which was great!

So obviously, overall, it was a really great week, as every week is. 

I borrowed a few of the old conference session DVDs from the church and have been listening/watching them as I exercised in the morning and gotten ready for bed at night. It has been so much fun!!  I love hearing the deep testimonies each of our church leaders have of the Savior and their dedication to follow Him.  They are such a wonderful example to each of us of following the will of the Lord.  Each day I serve, I hope that I can do a little more and reach a little higher to do more for others and overall, just act and love more like the Savior!  It has been so neat to see the little miracles that have happened as I have focused on that, and know that they will keep coming!!

As for your questions, the branch is great!!!  Nothing too exciting to report, but just good overall!  Yes, the elders are having just as much success as us and are working very hard as well.  The members say Burgoyne more like Pore-go-ing, or just Bur, and it works!
Yes transfers are this week and we are hoping and praying that we can stay together another transfer!!!!!!!!!!!!!  


Well I love you all and hope that you all have a wonderful week!!!

Love you!

Em

Monday, January 27, 2014

This week is Solnar

Hello hello!!!!!  Wow!!!  Sounds like it was a great week for everyone.  It has been a good week here!!  It went by SUPER fast!!!! 

Monday, we were in Daegu like I told you for breakfast, then we went and enjoyed some McDonald's for lunch.  I think the highlight was the strawberry-Oreo McFlurry!  Then we came back just in time to do some grocery shopping and print pictures.  You know how I told you that you can paydar (get delivered) anything here??  Well, we found out we can paydar our groceries!!!!!!!!!!!!!  You just go to the store and buy them (since we don't have internet access... if we did, we wouldn't need to even go to the store!)  and then they deliver them to your house like 20 minutes later!  How convenient!!!  Then we had English class and somehow we got on the subject of Stupid Human trick-type things, so I tried to teach them how to do the thing that Josh does where you wrap your arms and then pull them over your head.  None of them could do it, but the attempts were pretty hilarious! 

Tuesday, we took some message cards to less actives.  It seems like we do that a lot, but we are trying to see the bigger picture, hope that through our love, they can feel the Savior's love, and then remember the faith they exercised when they were baptized and come back to church!!!  Then we went to Jinbo (a tiny town like 50 minutes away) where we taught the two little girls I told you about.  We are teaching them English for 30 minutes, and then the lessons for 30 minutes.  We invited their parents to join us for the spiritual part this week, and they said a pretty flat out no, which we were pretty bummed about, but the kids seem to really like it.  They got a little restless at the end after sitting for an hour, but we taught them how to pray and they listened really well.  *** prayed and the spirit was SO strong, even as my comp was whispering to her what to say.  It is easy to see the power that little children have in bringing the spirit!!!! 

Wednesday, we went to Daegu for zone meeting.  A senior couple in our zone gave a great lesson about how our thoughts impact our words, and how much impact our words have in our lives.  The power of words and what we say really has such power in our lives.  It made me really think about how important it is to always say kind, uplifting things!!  One of the zone leaders then taught about doing our best, and what is our best compared to the Lord's best, and how we should strive to make our best the Lord's best.  I loved thinking of it in this way, and it makes me want to set my standards even higher, and not use "oh, I'm doing my best" as an excuse to do less than the Lord expects of me!  Then we did exchanges and I stayed there.  We went to find a less active, but the address we had was wrong, so we talked to some other ladies there, but they didn't have much interest.  Then we went to a 부동산 aka budongsan aka real estate office to use one of their maps to figure out where to go next.  The guy there was super nice, and we took the opportunity to talk to him a bit about religion.  We introduced ourselves as missionaries and asked him about his background.  He said that he went to a Presbyterian high school, but didn't have much to do with religion after that.  He has been really interested in science lately, and wants to learn more about that.  So we took this opportunity to teach him the entire first lesson!!!!  I told him how I studied chemistry in college, and as I learned more about it, it made me realize how much control that Heavenly Father must really have over our world because he can control the elements perfectly.  He thought that was interesting. Then we gave him a Book of Mormon and told him that he had to read to find out.  It is just like studying anything else.  You have to put forth the effort in order to really learn.  He said that he would read, and then we got his contact info and was going to refer him to the Suseong elders. 

Thursday, we met back up with our companions.  The others had to run to an appointment, so my comp and I grabbed some lunch quick.  The lady thought it was so funny that I was ordering Korean food!  I told her that I eat it very well. haha.  Then we had an area meeting with the elders, and had to weekly plan.  So exciting!  Haha

Friday, we went to an ice festival with the youth!!! The festival ended last week, but the branch president said that everything was still going on. So we went, but sadly, it was kind of lame.  Skates were like $10 to rent, so we just walked across the frozen river, and then wandered up on the mountain where there was a Confucius village.  Pretty cool.  Pics to follow.  Then we came back and got 떡볶이, rice cakes with spicy red sauce, and 순대, which looks like sausages but is actually just intestines.  It is one of the Korean foods I still avoid.  My companion likes it, but she said that her favorite part is the lung and liver on the sides.  GROSSSSSSSSSSS!  Then that night, the adults in our ward were going to a 노래방 aka Karaoke room. (They are literally EVERYWHERE here.  The Koreans love them!!!)  But we cannot go, so we just joined them for dinner before.  We ate more Bulgogi than I thought I would ever see in my life.  The relief society sisters just kept ordering more and more and more for us!  We, well especially the elders, enjoyed it of course,  but were SO full afterwards.  I think between the four of us, we ate 9 peoples portions worth.  Haha.  I do love going to things like that and seeing how much our branch loves each other. 

Saturday, one of the members called us and invited us to come visit her, but she wanted us to go right then.  Luckily our plans were flexible!  She works with her husband making Korean traditional paper.  She and her son come to church, but her husband is not a member.  She has had a really hard life, but it is so neat for me to see how much faith she has, and how she loves everyone around her so much.  Then we came back and taught the sisters we are teaching who are 19 and 17.  They tried to come up with a Korean name for me, but are still thinking about it.  They, too, have such a desire to learn.  We read the story of King Lamoni's father in Alma 22 and how he really wanted to know if there was a God. They still don't understand everything yet, but I think they can tell it is good.  They promised they would read and pray, even if they said they weren't sure why they had to. 

Sunday, was church, which is good as always!!  Then we visited a couple less actives and former investigators, and jundoed that night with the elders! 

So as you can see, it has been a fun, exciting, quick week!!!  This week is Solnar, aka Chinese New Year on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, so this week will go by quick too!  One of our investigators invited us over for one day, but not sure what we will do the others yet!  One of them we get to spent 6 hours cleaning our house!!!!!  I am strangely SUPER excited haha.  Not that it is too dirty, but, you know...  Haha

As you can tell, we are really trying to focus on the Book of Mormon!!  PMG chapter 5 is all about the Book of Mormon, and we are especially focusing on the "Questions of the Soul" it says the Book of Mormon can answer.  Confession.  I have kind of avoided that page my whole mission because I think it sounds so cheesy, and have never really wanted to spend much time on them.  BUT now that we are being asked to, I am doing it and learning a lot!  Last week, I printed out a talk that President Benson gave in October 1988 conference about the Book of Mormon. It is short and to the point. In it he said, "The time is long overdue for a massive flooding of the earth with the Book of Mormon for many reasons which the Lord has given.  In this age of electronic media and the mass distribution of the printed word, God will hold us accountable if we do not now move the Book of Mormon in a monumental way.  We have the Book of Mormon, we have the members, we have the missionaries, we have the resources, and the world has the need.  The time is now!"  Well if the time was NOW in 1988, that means it is even more time now in 2014!!!!  He goes on to say, "I challenge all of us to prayerfully consider steps that we can personally take to bring this new witness for Christ more fully into our own lives and into a world that so desperately needs it."  I am really trying hard to do this now.  I have a testimony of the Book of Mormon, but like anything else, I want it to grow. I am spending more time studying the Book of Mormon, and I love hearing about you doing the same.  I challenge you, and everyone you forward this too, to take on President Benson's challenge!!  ALL of us can grow because of the Book of Mormon and the testimony of Christ it so powerfully teaches. 



Tuesday, January 21, 2014

안녕하세요!!!

안녕하세요!!! 

I can't believe how fast the time is going either.  I have started to freak out about it a little bit.  But I just stop thinking about it and start trying to think in the good old 한국말 (Korean) again and that gets me a little confused, and back on track haha. 

You asked about my companion.  She is the same age as me.  Her parents are both members--her dad joined the church and served a mission in Seoul, then married her mom and then she got baptized and sealed in the temple.  She is the oldest, and has a brother that is 19, doing his required military service right now, and a sister who is 12.  She is double majoring in English and Korean literature.  She loves to draw and loves stories.  The elders are great.  We have a great time with them, and they work so hard!  Yes, one of the elders is Korean.  He is 23 and is from Seoul.  He went to BYU for a bit, then did his 2 years military service, and now is here.  His older brother is serving in Washington right now, and his younger sister in Daejeon so there three missionaries from his family right now!  (I think he has two other siblings too.)  And the other is from Orem.  Hope that's a bit more info for you!!  They are all SUPER great missionaries! 

It has been a good week!!!  It was quick.  Nothing too exciting happened but, here's a quick overview...

Monday-English class after P-Day as usual!! 
Tuesday- We went and visited one of the harmonys (grandmothers) that is on our list.  (I think they flock to Sister missionaries.  Every area I have been in we've had a few.  Probably because they are lonely and we will go visit them.)  She is 91 and has cancer, and is always so excited to see us.  We hadn't gone in a couple weeks, and she was wondering why we hadn't gone.  I have a SUPER hard time understanding her because she speaks in  super thick satori (accent) (yes there are Korean accents...)  but thankfully my comp is amazing!  Then that night, we went to teach the new family that our members referred us to in Jinbo.  The two little girls we taught English to were super cute.  They are 11 and 8, and literally don't speak any English, and can't read it either. So we are starting from the basics.  They listened to our message really well about Jesus and how we can pray when we have hard times.  We really want to include the parents more with everything next time, so we're not just the English teachers, and have thought of a few ways that we can do a better job at that.
Wednesday was district meeting!  I usually enjoy district meeting, but I really loved it this week!!  The theme for this transfer is Flooding the Mission with the hope of the Book of Mormon.  President really wants us to focus on the Book of Mormon and getting it into the lives of the investigators, less actives, and members.  It has been awesome already.  At district meeting, we talked about Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life.  When he partook of the fruit, he didn't just eat it, and enjoy it himself, but he wanted to share it!  He yelled to his family to come and partake of it with him.  He wanted them to feel the joy that came from it too.  So we related the fruit to the Atonement.  When we feel the power of the atonement in our lives, we want to share it!  We can't just keep it for ourselves, but instead, yell to others to come have the same feelings from it!!  I have thought a lot about this this week.  The more I feel this joy and happiness and enabling power of the atonement, the more I want to share it.  I love it!  It makes me want to work even harder!  Then that night, we went and shared it with one of the members and she loved it!  Already seeing miracles from it!
Thursday, we went and visited the super old deaf harmony again that I told you about.  We took the member that she knows with us this time, so that was a help.  I didn't understand a lot of it.  She came to church again on Sunday though so that was good. Still not sure how we're going to teach her though!
Friday, we taught the sisters again.  I tried to correct one of their English papers for school and it was hard. Seriously my English grammar is going down the drain.  I think I did okay though!!  Then we talked about families and told funny stories, then turned it to how we can show love in our families.  Koreans don't really show their love within their families.  So, we challenged them to write their dad a simple note that just said I love you.  They also read in the Book of Mormon, but had a hard time understanding it, so we read it with them.  So fun!! 
Saturday, we had pizza with some of the members which was fun.  Then we got a really awesome jundo plan together with the elders.  When we do jundo, we do lots of stuff for English class, because that is what gets lots of people's attention, but we haven't had a lot of success with it.  So we decided to try something new.  We want to introduce ourselves as missionaries.  It is still in the works, but are trying to do it using the "I'm a Mormon" stuff.  So we made a survey that had them guess how old we are (most people thought i was 25?!?!), how much money we earn, how long we serve, and how much internet we use.  It was pretty funny to see the results, and we got people more laughing and involved with us.  We are excited to contact them this week. 
Sunday, we had church, and then did the jundo activity  i just told you about!!  Good day!! 

So overall, as you can see it has been a great week!!  I have loved continuing to see all of the little things that are going on here!!

I love you all so much!!!!!!!  I hope this week is AMAZING!!!

Em


Monday, January 13, 2014

Staying in Andong

Hi hi!

Sounds like you are all doing great and it has been another great week!

I'm glad that you enjoyed my last letter!  I'm still loving it here!  And the best news is that today is the beginning of a new transfer and WE ARE ALL STAYING HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!  I talked to President last week telling him about are area and all the great stuff going on, and said "You know President, I have had 7 companions in 6 transfers.  That has to be some sort of record."  He said "yeah that's too many.  We'll see what happens though!"  So we thought we would be fine, but we, as well as the elders, were glad on Thursday night NOT to receive a transfer call!

As for the last week...
Monday:  So we found a new hobby in Andong.  Thrift Shopping!  Our good friend/investigator showed us where her favorite thrift shop is.  I got 2 new coats for about $7 each, and a really funky skirt for $3.  Then dry cleaning was like $5 for each, but still not bad!  You bet we're going back today:)  Then we had English class that night, which was fun! She brought one of her friends which was great of course!

Tuesday:  I woke up with a cold, so that was a bummer.  But just carry on!  We went to the tiny town of Jinbo where some of our members live, and they introduced us to a family that we are going to teach Family English too.  The mom owns a restaurant, and so we had lunch there.  FISH SOUP!!!  nom nom nom....???  Fortunately, as my love for the Korean people has grown, my love for their food has too, and I ate it just fine.  Are you proud???

Wednesday:  We had district meeting.  Nothing too exciting, but good as always.  Then we came back and had dinner with *** and her friend which was great!  I love all these people introducing us to their friends!!!

Thursday:  This is our adventure day of the week.  We went to Ye-chon where one of our members live because there is an old harmony that they want us to teach.   Here's a brief summary:  She lives in the middle of nowhere in the tiniest house I've ever seen.  She's almost deaf and can't hear what we say, unless we yell in her left ear, so we took a whiteboard, but she can't read well either.  Then the member, made curry for us to eat with harmony and then left, so we start to heat it up, but she runs out of gas, so we have to call to get more of that, and wait for that. So we try to teach her about eternal families, and tell her that we can live together after we die, then she just starts talking about funerals.  Then she started talking about a lady who stole money from her, then we found out it was her daughter, then we found out she really gave the daughter money because she was sick, but now she won't answer her phone calls.  So she tried to call the daughter from our phone, and she answered, and then all this other family drama came out, and so the harmony was crying, and then my comp was crying because she didn't know what to do, and then I'm just sitting there like what in the world is happening?!?!  Where in the world am I?!?!  It was pretty great. Then that night, we ate chicken with two of the girls in our branch who are like 19, one of their boyfriends, and the elders, which was super fun.  They enjoyed our story from that day too.

Friday:  We had deep cleaning.  Our apartment has to be one of the cleanest sister apartments in the mission.  I'm quite proud.  Then we planned what is called the 암탉 프러그램 aka Hen Program.  President Kimball once said that if you pray for someone to accept the gospel for 21 days straight, it will happen. (21 days is how long it takes for a hen to lay an egg or something so that's where the name comes from) So like everyone in Korea does this thing where it is like a relay fast/pray while reading all the same scriptures.  So we got that all ready.  Then we had a youth activity which was super fun!!!  We played the "Random Game"  where you play a bunch of different games (similar to girls camp games) which was SO hilarious.  I'll teach you all when I get home.  Don't worry.  Then we taught our investigators.  They read the part of the Book of Mormon we asked them too, which we were stoked about, and then we taught them about the plan of Salvation which  they really liked.  It was great.

Saturday:  We had English class, and then one of the members took us to this FABULOUS bakery  that is only here in Andong.  Seriously its so delicious.  The cream-cheese bread is addicting.  We had been a couple times before,but she wanted to go together, so we were excited about that of course.  While we were there, I learned that it is totally normal here to tell someone that their forehead is beautiful... and that it is like a big compliment...what the heck?!  Then we went to Youngju where we had dinner with one of our investigors that I have told you about, and  our member who is her english teacher.  We had a great time, and she said she wants to introduce us to her husband and kids!!  She said the Book of Mormon is still hard for her, but she knows there is something special about it and that's important.  That's a pretty great sign!!

Sunday:  We had church, and then lunch after with the branch.  The branch president is really excited for our plan to get lots of people to come when the church moves, so we were super stoked about that.  Our branch president really is amazing.  He told us yesterday about when he was on his mission, he build up a branch from really small to a pretty good size.  Then when he lived in Seoul, he turned one of the smallest branches into a ward.  Now, he is here, and his goal is to do the same thing.  He said that he and his wife probably won't go on a senior mission, but just keep moving aroud Korea, helping to build up small branches into big, stable wards.  Pretty amazing!!!

I am so grateful to be here at this time.  As we have been planning, and with the new year and transfer, I have thought a lot about the importance of goals.  As missionaries, we set daily goals, weekly goals, monthly goals and transfer goals.  We also have personal goals, which I have really tried to think about this week.  Lots will continue to change this year in my life, so I want to have goals that will help me keep growing, and learning more  as I try to be more like Jesus Christ.  One of my favorite quotes in PMG is by Elder Ballard.  He said, "I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don't set goals in our life and learn how to MASTER the techniques of living, we can reach a ripe old age, and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential.  When one learns to master the principles of setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life."  Pretty awesome, eh??  I am so grateful that we have such great guidance from our inspired leaders to help us reach our full potential, and become the person that our Heavenly Father desiged us to become!!!

I love you all so much!!